R.N. Robertson Travelling Fellowship
Up to one award each year to a maximum value of $4000.
Applications for the R.N. Robertson Travelling Fellowship should be forwarded in electronic form to the Hon Secretary of ASPS, (John.Evans@anu.edu.au). The application form can be downloaded here RNRapplication2009 . Applications close on Monday 22 June 2009.
Introduction
The RN Travelling Fellowship recognises and celebrates the sustained contribution made by RN Robertson (Sir Bob) in nurturing plant scientists in Australia spanning across four decades from the 1950s. A biographical memoir of Bob Robertson is available at http://www.science.org.au/academy/memoirs/robertson.htm . Currently with $40,000 of the planned $100,000 of the funds raised (including $20,000 from our own funds) the modest grant of $4000 should be used where possible to leverage further support for the proposed research visit. As the level of secured funds increases so will the size and/or number of the grants being offered.
The Australian Society of Plant Scientists is indebted to Hank Greenway and Joe Wiskisch who generated and championed the early development of the RN Robertson Travelling Fellowship. The guidelines and application form are given below.
Guidelines
The fellowship will be focused on support for graduate students and recent PhD graduates to undertake research aimed at elucidating plant function and should enhance the current research of the applicant by providing access to expertise and facilities outside of that currently available to them. The fellowship should be undertaken at another institution outside of the Australian state in which their current research institution resides. For overseas applicants, the proposed host research institution must be within Australia. The application should conform to the guidelines of the Professor R.N. Robertson Fund as outlined below.
The objective of the Professor R.N. Robertson Fund is to encourage young Plant Scientists to participate in mechanistically (functionally) orientated research in a discipline that differs from their own. Comments on the objective:
- “Young” because Bob was renowned for his stimulation of undergraduate and postgraduate students; there will not be an age restriction, but funds will be available only for postgraduate students and postdocs who were awarded their degree less than 2 years of effective research before applying for the award.
- “Mechanistically (functionally) orientated research” because Bob strongly favoured the establishment of mechanisms (function), even in programs that had a long-term applied aim.
- The fund will be specifically dedicated to projects that give recipients experience in cooperation with others whose experience is in an area at a different level from their own.
- Applications from young plant biologists from overseas will also be considered for work in Australia, if it can be demonstrated that the research project will establish or strengthen contacts, and introduce new ideas and techniques into an Australian plant biology department. An appication form in Word format can be downloaded from the link below.
Type of project to be supported by RNR Fund: A period of research consistent with the objective of the fund, in a university or research institution. The research should complement the existing research of the applicant by providing access to expertise and facilities outside of that currently available to them and preferably in a field different from the expertise of the applicant, for example a biochemist might work in a unit on molecular biology or biophysics. Funds will be available for a period of research, rather than for attendance at conferences.
Level of award: The level will depend on the objective of the proposal, and would include travel costs and some living allowances. It is expected that the recipient will use the grant to negotiate additional funding from the group with whom they intend to work, or from their existing institution. It is important that the current supervisor of the applicant make considered comments on the scientific and financial viability of the proposed research program.
Eligibility: Young scientists from Australia and beyond, who are doing undergraduate or postgraduate research projects or have completed their PhD less than 2 years of effective research before the closing date of the applications.
Location: For Australian recipients: Australia or overseas, but not in the Australian state where the work for the degree is being or has been carried out. For overseas recipients: Australia.
Study stage at which grants will be considered: Honours, Masters and PhD degrees, all with research as the main objective, and early postdoctorates. The project can be carried out during the work for the degree or during the first two years of effective research time after obtaining the degree. For Honours and Postgraduate students, the supervisor will be consulted to establish that the study during the fellowship will contribute to the fulfilment of requirements for the degree. However, for Honours for which research is less than 70% of the year’s commitment, the period proposed may only begin after graduation, and there should be an intention to enrol for a higher degree by research.
Selection Committee: The selection of the candidate will be decided by a selection committee from within the members of Council and co-opted members of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists subject to there being no conflicts of interest.
Administration of funds: Administration of the fund will be undertaken by the University of Western Australia.
Previous recipients
- Joanne Castelli
- Mikolaj Cieslak